As jugglers of multiple and oftentimes complex tasks, property managers must be adept at mediating between board members and unit owners, as well as resolving all manner of maintenance and legal issues. To this end, property managers don’t…
Whether a building is a luxury high rise with an in-house movie theater, rooftop pool, and climate-controlled wine cellar or a much more modest low-rise or townhome community with a simple community room or gazebo, managing common amenitie…
Whether change is good or bad often depends on who you talk to; even a welcome change produces a certain level of stress and adjustment. Personal changes are challenging enough, but for co-op and condo residents, a board decision to change…
Every co-op, condo and HOA community is different—each has its own distinctive character, attitude, and expectations. The same is obviously true for the individual people who manage these communities and help them run their day-to-day b…
With smart-phones dominating the cellular market, people now have Internet access anywhere and everywhere they go. While shopping and “googling” are leading reasons to use the Internet, the rise of social media has changed the way in wh…
A friend of a property manager of a New York co-op recently remarked that “Superman has finally met his match” when a task came in that seemed to have the effect of kryptonite and slowed him down—for a moment at least. With man…
Budgeting is never easy, not for a family of four and certainly not for a co-op or condo community of hundreds or thousands of residents. That fact is made all the more difficult by the lingering effects of the recession, which continue…
The holidays are behind us, and the long haul toward spring is underway. Along with the usual springtime showers and flowers, of course, comes The Cooperator’s annual Co-op & Condo Expo. The Expo is quietly taking shape as this spring’s …
In most buildings—even otherwise well-run, well-managed ones—building staff and administration can sometimes get a little bit lax in their day-to-day maintenance duties. Equipment doesn’t get serviced. Paint peels. Dust and dirt accumula…
The boards of some co-op and condo buildings pride themselves on not raising their monthly maintenance fees for years at a time. At first glance, this might seem like a good thing—after all, low fees are appreciated by residents and can…